Revolutionary socialism
Encyclopedia : R : RE : REV : Revolutionary socialism
Revolutionary socialism is a term used on the left to differentiate from parliamentary socialism (ie what is now called social democracy) in favour of overturning capitalism through revolution. Historically, the phrase was used by members of the left wing tendency of the Second International such as Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg to identify themselves in opposition to evolutionary socialists such as Eduard Bernstein. This tendency would became widely known as Communism following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the split of leftists from the Second International to create the Third International.
Part of the Politics series on
Socialism
Currents
Democratic socialism
Christian socialism
Communism
Libertarian socialism
Social democracy
Revolutionary socialism
Influences
Owenism
Marxism
Anarchism
Trade unionism
Ideas
Egalitarianism
Democracy
Mixed economy
Planned economy
Key issues
History of socialism
Socialist economics
Criticisms of socialism
Types of socialism
People and organizations
List of socialists
Social democratic parties
First International
Second International
Socialist International
ยท
Following the rise of Stalinism within the Third International dissident tendencies such as Trotskyism and Left Communism would often use the term revolutionary socialism (or revolutionary communism) as a means of asserting that they were revolutionary as opposed to Stalinists who, in their view, were not. Conversely, Stalinists would assert that they were the revolutionary socialists as opposed to their rivals. Some revolutionaries outside of the Marxist tradition such as libertarian socialists or anarchists have also described themselves as revolutionary socialists.
Today, the phrase "revolutionary socialism" is used much in the manner it was used in the 19th and early 20th century - by the far left to distinguish themselves from parliamentary socialists, particularly in countries where the social democratic party uses the name Socialist Party or refer to themselves from socialists, or by rival far left groups who assert that they are "revolutionary" as opposed to other socialist groups who merely claim to be so.
See also
for lists of parties carrying these names.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.